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Not all Kurds are 'terrorists' in Turkey
8.10.2007
By Esra'a (Bahrain) |
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October
8, 2007
One of the toughest things that I had to deal with
while leading the
Arab Network for Kurdish
Rights campaign is the idea that “all
Kurds are terrorists, they do not deserve our
support.” I had to swift through many of these types
of e-mails, most of which labeled Kurds as “PKK
pigs” who are undeserving of our support or of human
rights in general.
This really saddens me. I know a lot of Kurds, none
of whom are sympathizers with terrorism. All they
want is to be recognized as an independent nation
with its own unique language, culture, and history.
And they are right. They are not Turkish, Iranian,
Arab, or part of any other identity but their own,
so why should we insist on labeling them as such?
Kurds have a very distinct background. A lot of them
work very hard in preserving their language and
culture, despite them being either an oppressed or
an unrecognized minority wherever they go in the
Middle East.
For several weeks now we have been leading a
petition to ensure Kurdish human rights in the
Middle East especially within the sphere of the
media, where Kurds currently suffer from
state-sponsored censorship, anywhere from Turkey to
Iran. This petition is the very first of its kind,
where non-Kurds are now the ones fighting for
Kurdish rights, especially Arabs. In a previous post
I outlined why we chose to lead this initiative:
The Arab Network for Kurdish Rights is where Arabs
from all over the region unite in order to support
Kurds in their struggle for human rights. It is also
where Kurdish students join forces with their Arab
friends to encourage Arabs and Kurds to live
peacefully with each other while maintaining their
full identity, language and culture. We hope to help
them gain equal rights within our societies.
Together we also condemn Kurdish extremism and Arab
oppression in all its forms and try to find new and
non-violent ways to protest Kurdish oppression.
Still, some people keep asking us, why are we doing
this? Firstly, and as evidenced by the growing
negative feedback concerning our campaign, a common
belief held in our region is that Kurds are thieving
terrorists who sympathize with PKK’s violent
tactics. This is very untrue. In a recent and very
insightful article published in the Turkish Daily
News, Orhan Kemal Cengiz writes the following:
There were also many Kurds in the region who saw the
PKK as a backward and bloody entity but at the same
time would have liked to be able to state their
Kurdish identity in a peaceful way. They were
silenced by both the PKK and the [Turkish] State.
Oppressing Kurdish identity and never allowing its
appearance no matter how peaceful the method used to
express it, and using incredibly harsh, unacceptable
methods in the name of the struggle against terror
which caused Kurdish civilians huge suffering,
Turkey’s official policies have never aimed at any
solution to this problem.
What bothers and offends many Kurds is that a lot of
people do not believe in their identity. They are
not able to state that they are from Kurdistan, or
that they are Kurdish, without people asking them
“where are you really from?” Kurds are not Iranians,
they are not Turkish, they are not Arabs, they are
Kurdish. The Kurdish identity is a very strong,
historical, and most importantly different one which
we should accept, defend, and embrace. This is who
they are, and if we want to live peacefully with
them then we should respect this.
In an electronic interview with Haydar, a Kurdish
human rights activist, he says “we will not give in
to oppression, intimidation, terrorism, and
censorship. We must stand up and proudly say that we
are Kurdish, and we are here to live in peace just
like anybody else.” Why then do we deem the Kurdish
cause too untrustworthy for our support?
In another interview with Sehla, a Kurd living with
her family in Kuwait, she says “I have honestly
given up any hope in our Kurdish struggle. Since our
move to Kuwait, my husband and I adopted the Arab
identity and we now hold Kuwaiti passports. For the
past 17 years now, I have been Kuwaiti, not
Kurdish.” When asked whether or not this makes her
sad she notes that “it does, but this is how it has
to be for us if we want to lead normal lives.”
Sehla’s children do not speak Kurdish. Arabic is the
dominant language in their household, because “it
makes our lives easier,” she says. “I just want to
forget what we had to go through. I don’t want my
children to go through that.” Sehla used to live in
Iraq under Saddam Hussein’s brutal regime, where
many of the surviving Kurds suffered traumatic
experiences.
In any case, our campaign and our petition exist
because we believe in the Kurdish identity. We
recognize the Kurdish nation as culturally and
historically independent and we want to live in
peace with them, just like they want to live in
peace with the rest of us. There is no reason to
silence and oppress them and we’ll certainly join
their efforts in fighting all attempts at doing so.
Many Kurds support our initiative, mostly because
the campaign is one of very few efforts of non-Kurds
in the Middle East who fight for Kurdish human
rights. But we do this very proudly, and no amount
of stereotypical feedbacks suggesting that Kurds are
terrorists can stop us from doing what we think is
necessary.
If you haven’t done so already, please take the time
to
sign our petition
and help us put an end to Kurdish censorship within
the media.
Or better,
join our campaign.
mideastyouth com
**
Kurds are not recognized as an official minority in
Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate over 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Turkey is home to over 25 million ethnic Kurds, some
of whom openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media.
The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish
alphabet has led to judicial persecution in 2000 and
2003
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan
but unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag
is banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it
is a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan ( Kurdistan-Turkey)
wikipedia
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